baa baa sheep of colour

[Shirley]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4782856.stm

Pre-school children attending two nurseries in Oxfordshire are being taught a new version of Baa Baa Black Sheep - Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep.
Critics say altering the words of the traditional nursery rhyme is an example of political correctness gone too far.

But the charity running the nurseries, Parents and Children Together (Pact), said the move was educational, not motivated by racial concerns.

Pact said children were encouraged to use a wide range of words in songs.

Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full;
One for the master,
And one for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane

Baa Baa Black Sheep


"Pact has established that children sing a variety of descriptive words in the nursery rhyme to turn the song into an action rhyme," the charity said in a statement.

"They sing happy, sad, bouncing, hopping, pink, blue, black and white sheep etc and they also exchange boy and girl at the end of the rhyme.

"This encourages the children to extend their vocabulary and use up some energy."

While the words have been altered at two Oxfordshire nurseries - the Abingdon Family Centre and the Sure Start Centre in Sutton Courtenay - other nurseries in the area have not taken such steps.

"We sing Baa Baa Black Sheep and Baa Baa White Sheep because that's reality, that's what the children see in the fields and it encourages them to look around them," said Jill Edge, from the Sunshine Centre in Banbury, north Oxfordshire.

"Realistically, they are not going to see rainbow sheep in the fields. There are much better ways of addressing these issues."

In 2000, a warning that the nursery rhyme Baa Baa black sheep should not be taught in schools because it was "racially offensive" was scrapped.

The guidelines by education chiefs at Birmingham City Council were dropped after black parents condemned the advice as ridiculous.

[Shelle]

i am speechless ...

[FluffyMuppet]

People are a bit strange round here, I'm afraid

[Shirley]

lol

It brings back memories to me of when my little one was in hospital and in recovery after his first op for cleft lip repair.

I was feeling awful, tired etc... J was grumpy (understandably after a 2.5 hour op) and we had visitors in the form of my friend, her son (who had also been born with a cleft) and her mother. I started singing baa baa black sheep to J to try and calm him... and my friend's son said that you can't sing that any more... so we ended up singing baa baa sheep of colour instead. Oh boy did that lighten the mood and even J smiled... with his new smile.

Ahhh memories are great aren't they.

[hedgewitch]

It's funny we were just talking about this today at work.
You know when my partner worked for Hackney borough council you weren't allowed to ask for a black coffee, instead you had to say a coffee without milk!!
Craziness!!

[Tinks]

goodness me!!
mind you, in our preschool today one member of staff queried whether we should sing 'i know an old lady who swallowed a fly...perhaps she'll die' in case it was a bit scary!
Eventually we wont be able to sing any more songs at all
tinks x

[Muddypause]

No, I'm sorry; I've gotta take you lot to task here. Read it again, and consider it in this light:

What is far more interesting is the way the journalist has implied that there is some sort of indoctrination going on there. Why has he done that? This is a story about nothing. When you actually read it, and consider it in context, there is no hidden agenda being exposed here. Children have always changed the words in nursery rhymes to suit their own imagination.

But by writing the piece as if there was some kind of indoctrination taking place makes it far more attention grabbing. There is no mention of this being the result of any sort of directive; the teachers appear to be allowing the children to play with the words, that's all.

What would be worse:

"These are the words that you will sing; don't try and think of any alternatives"
or
"This is a song, lets think of some new words to it."

What's the difference between that and '101 Uses For A Breadbag'?

Remember the stories, a while ago, that teachers were forbidden to use the word 'blackboard' and school libraries couldn't stock books like Black Beauty? They turned out to be utter nonsense; a bit of political mischief making by the likes of the Daily Express who, for some reason, had an agenda against a bill of racial equality. There never was such a directive prohibiting the use of the word 'black', but the Thatcherite press conjured it up as a means of undermining non-Conservative run authorities. The rumours still persist, and it seems twopenny hacks still try to perpetuate it.

Personally, I think we should celebrate children who have the imagination to sing about "happy, sad, bouncing, hopping, pink, blue, black and white sheep ".

I'd suggest this article is really about bad journalism.

[Tigerhair]

Do NOT get me started on this one... oh, you have... so here goes!

My Mum ran a playgroup for 20 years and could not believe it when this happened!

Josh's nursery teach him that sheep can be black!! Ohhh... he loves it and does the actions he's been taught!

He loves me reading the fly swallowing one too - kids LOVE to be scared and he doesn't really understand it and questions about dying WILL crop up and we ALL have to deal with that one!

Arghhhhhhh Grrrrrr... oh sod it!

[Goodlife1970]

We cant sing Baa Baa Black sheep either. Neither could we have a Nativity play in school as "it may cause offence to children of non Christian backgrounds" we were given a scripted alternative instead,all the children bar one are from Christian/ Non practising households,the other is a Jehovas Witness and therefore wouldnt be interested in Christmas at all! Yes Stew,we have been changing the lyrics to songs for longer than I care to remember but isnt that usually for something MORE offensive than the original? Im all for a little creativity and imagination but lets not CREATE divisions by deeming certain words as offensive.

[Shirley]

Personally, I think we should celebrate children who have the imagination to sing about "happy, sad, bouncing, hopping, pink, blue, black and white sheep ".

I'd suggest this article is really about bad journalism.

Stew

Yes, I know... I did read the article through. The first link I saw to this story on the raising kids site did just say the first part - ie kids were not allowed to sing baa baa black sheep... the rest (and I'm only saying what I read and not stating any facts that I know to be true) seems to be a back track.

Possibly a case of chinese whispers - who knows... but one thing is certain and that is that the world today IS far too politically correct for it's own good. In my local paper today I spotted two jobs... one for a pig person and another for a person friday!

I totally agree with kids making up new words for songs... Jonathan does it all the time... and so does my older son, but most of HIS changes are not fit to publish on this site

It's a sad world when (as one example) a board that is black cannot be called a blackboard but needs to be called a chalk board.... is it made of chalk? NOOOOOOOOO...

[Goodlife1970]

Our local hall committee has a "chair",I was a bit confused as I though that was what you sat on!

[Shelle]

All up there for creativity ... but are we (our children) being fed or is this creativity at work?

The words have been change to make it more energetic with more actions? It is still a set song, so i guess the same creative elements that were there in the original song would be there now?

I am just having trouble grasping the change for creativity? There are so many others songs to choose from - i thought Baa Baa Black Sheep was something they sang to me to get me to sleep

[LSP]

Possibly a case of chinese whispers -

And I certainly object to any suggestion of inaccuracy being described as 'Chinese'!!

Remember, us Chinese invented gunpowder.

Has any one got non-white friends who object to singing about 'black sheep', I ask you. I know Muslim children who can't wait to take part in a Nativity play. And their parents do not object. Sadly, in many schools, that's about the only chance they get to sing, act and dance.

Good weekend to all!

[Shirley]

ooops :)

I've got lots of non-white friends and not one of them would take offence at baa baa black sheep or any other such thing.

It's sad isn't it that kids don't get to do the fun things so much these days - we used to sing act and dance LOTS at my school. In fact you couldn't get out of it if you wanted to lol... excuses such as 'i've forgotten my pe kit/plimmies' didn't wash. We did dance in our bare feet or knickers (big grey school ones anyway, and it was an all girls school)

It's amazing the difference music and exercise makes to learning abilities.

Running to the bombshelter now

[LSP]

It's amazing the difference music and exercise makes to learning abilities.

Absolutely. It's been scientifically proven. Playing music and team sports require a lot of discipline, gives you a sense of self-esteem, builds teamwork and keeps you occupied.

If all our young people are likewise suitably occupied, they wouldn't have time to mess around, get pregnant or have ASBOs slapped on them.

Sorry to go off-thread.